Kylie Anne
by scoutshorts
Summary: AU of how Kylie became Sophie-Anne. Shhhh, not based on the books. Please review and I hope you enjoy!
1. Cause and Curse

Mom thought the curse had been broken. She thought somehow exercising the spirit of Jimmy Angelov had tapped into the power of our ancestor, Maria, and released all of us from the devastation of losing a husband. I don't know what mom felt that day, but I know she was wrong. Two years to the day, after mom and Officer Gary had married, she awoke to a familiar sound. The strange clicking of another death watch beetle. The sound was muffled and quiet at first, but as the day passed into dusk the sound resonated as a throbbing hammer almost inside mom's skull. She couldn't see the beetle, couldn't find it, and every turn of the head seemed to deceive the location of the imminency. She felt the panic of her madness roll over her body as cold sweat. She repeatedly flipped her hair, bit her nails, and covered her face. The knot in her throat tightened in competition with the one in her stomach. She wept uncontrollably, frantically searching for the beetle. Of course, finding the beetle and crushing it, or trying to bewitch it, didn't change fate. The death watcher did not negotiate the inevitable. Its existence was simply to announce that the end of life and love had arrived. As did the phone ringing that same night.

"Hello?"

The clicking of the beetle stopped the moment the emergency room nurse began to speak.

"Mrs. Hallet?"

Mom can't breathe. She can't think. Can't see. Can't feel her body anymore. Her legs give out, and she collapses on the floor.

"May I speak with Mrs. Hallet please?"

"Thi-this is she."

"I'm very sorry to tell you this, your husband was in a severe car accident-"

Mom hung up. She didn't wait to hear that the doctors were still trying to resuscitate her husband, and she should get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Instead, a loud, anguished, singular sob belted forth from her chest. Almost as if releasing the compression of her grief, letting loose all the guilt, and shame, and fear she carried since childhood. She curled up then, into herself on the floor, and whispered, "no, no, no" over and over in disbelief. She created this man with a true love spell. He was her soulmate. More than my father had been. And he was gone. He was dead. The curse continued. Mom would never be free of it. She had done everything to keep the curse away from her, but still it did its worst. She started to crawl as she wept, made her way into the greenhouse filled with herbs and elixirs. Consumed by her pain, and a lifetime of torment, disappointment and sorrow, she hesitated for only a moment before she drank the bottle of belladonna.

The aunts found my mother the next morning when we returned from the solstice celebration. They tried to protect Antonia and me, but I saw her body. I saw it for just a second, crumpled and small on the ground, yet a look of untainted peace graced her face. My mother was beautiful, but there were three times she was most stunning: on both her weddings days, and her eternal moment of death. I almost laughed when I saw her lying there, vanquished by her own heartbreak, because I remembered saying I couldn't wait to fall in love.


	2. Introduce and Intertwine

I meet Lydia part way through my junior year of high school. I am sitting in homeroom, bored as usual, writing poetry and illustrating my nightmares. The door creaks open, and in she walks. At first glance she seems shy, reserved, and maybe a little stuck up. She feels me staring at her, turns to match my gaze, and smiles. Her smile is perfect. I feel something stir inside me. Something I've never felt, or forgotten how to feel, I'm not sure which? But _she_ makes me feel something. I feel myself smiling back at her as I take in her blonde hair, creamy skin, and graceful way she moves her body. And her body is ... incredible. I feel flush as my desire to touch her consumes me. I lick my teeth a little, biting the tip of my tongue. I realize she's still watching me and blush.

"Lydia?"

The sound of her name snaps both of us back from our thoughts. Lydia. What a beautiful name. I wonder, what was she thinking just now? Lydia. Lydia. Lydia.

"Yes."

She has the voice of an angel. My heart is pounding inside my chest. My hands are clammy. I can hardly breathe. I feel excited and sick at the same time. I keep staring at her. I can't help it. I need to study her. I want to know her. I ache to have her image burned within me.

"Welcome to homeroom. Why don't you have a seat next to Kylie?"

"Thank you."

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit! Did he say "Kylie"? She swivels and glances quickly to figure out who Kylie is. She assumes by the empty desk beside me, that I am she. She walks up to me and stops just close enough to nearly touch my hand gripping the edge of my desk, but not drastically enough for anyone else to notice or care. My ears knock with the thunder of my hormones and emotions colliding together in a crash of cotton-mouth fury.

"Are you Kylie?"

I can't swallow. Can't speak. Can't. My eyes simply grow wider with the terror of speechlessness.

"Is it okay if I sit here?"

She motions with her body, hugged around school books, towards the desk. She smells like ... like summer, and flowers? And a little like an herb garden.

"I'm Lydia. It's nice to meet you."

A smug smirk as she glides into her seat, and flips her hair off her neck.

_Get it together._ What is happening to me? I've never not been able to talk with someone. Of course, I've never seen _her_ before. _Get it together._ Just relax and stop staring. Look at my notebook and calm down. I don't know if I can. I think- I think I lo- A hand skims across my arm and twists my pages.

"Did you draw this?"

I blink, bringing my own art into focus. Weakly, I answer.

"Yes."

"Damn. That's some imagination."

"Thank you."

I make the mistake of looking into her eyes again, and I feel completely stripped. Disarmed. Undone. She looks at me and she knows my soul. She knows everything about me. I'm afraid of her. I know I will do anything she asks of me. I know I am already hers. Is she already mine? Does she feel this too? She must. I can't be alone in this. Am I?

"Kylie, do you want to skip today and go somewhere?"

"Okay."

Go where in this small town? But who will the school call? My parents? No, the aunts will be told of my absence and they'll understand I am powerless to Lydia. Lydia. Lydia.

"Lydia."

"Yes?"

"What?"

"You said my name."

"I did?"

She laughs at me. A sweet, pure laugh with a small snort at the end.

"Yeah. You did. What do you want? Or do you just like my name?"

"Nothing. Sorry. I didn't realize I said anything."

"It's okay if you say it. Maybe when we leave here you'll actually talk to me too."

We slide inside her hand-me-down, rusted orange Volkswagen Beetle. I latch my safety belt. She doesn't.

"Where to?"

She's so full of life and exuberance.

"The park? I guess?"

That cherishable laughter again.

"You're so silly!"

During our car ride she rolls down her window and turns the radio on and up. She seems to know all the songs as she sings along. I, myself, try to pinpoint exactly when I became such an awkward teenager. As a child I bore all the adventurousness of Aunt Gillian and the unrivaled talents of my mother. Through the years, being orphaned has darkened me, caused me to retreat. Now, it's my sister who dons the popularity I was surely destined for. Sometimes I envy her youth, her gift of ignorance born from the inability to remember vivid details. Of course, I'd rather be the one burdened by the death of our parents because she's ... innocent.

"What are you thinking about?"

"My sister."

"Oh yeah? Who's your sister?"

"Antonia."

"Hmmm? I don't think I've met her yet. Is she anything like you?"

"No. She's a lot better than me."

"You should learn to give yourself more credit. Anyways, get out! We're here!"

"Where's here?"

"I have no clue, but it looks interesting so let's go explore!"


	3. Harmony and Healing

She takes my hand in hers and my heart knocks against my ribs, threatening to burst. She notices my gaping response and giggles.

"Is this okay?"

My hand starts sweating in hers, but my muscles seem to relax a little in the sincerity of her words.

"Always."

She smiles that bright smile again.

"Good!"

She leads me up a rough trail in a part of the woods I've somehow managed to miss my entire life. I follow her closely as my feet are unsure of this new territory. I stare, again, at her smooth legs gliding in front of me. She's wearing brown cowboy boots, a denim-colored dress with tacky flowers embroidered into the fabric, and a soft pink sweater with a puffy olive jacket overtop. I look at my own clothes: knee-high converse over skinny jeans, a tattered hoodie hiding my Skid Row t-shirt, and my father's old black trench coat. Dry twigs snap beneath our feet as we climb higher and farther. Lydia hums a tune I don't recognize, but I'm too embarrassed to ask. We crawl through a tunnel made of branches and leaves. When she gets to the other side, Lydia turns around to help pull me through. I blush again, ashamed of my many shortcomings. We walk hand in hand for another few minutes until I hear her take in a deep, contented sigh.

"Look at _this_ place Kylie! Have you ever seen this before?"

We stand atop a grassy knoll and gaze out over a valley in the woods. The grass is a deep green, surrounded by trees that blot out the sun. The air is dank, moist, but magical. The forest seems alive, almost defensive to its new intruders. I feel small here. I feel like I'm in a sacred place that shouldn't be disturbed. Lydia breaks her hand free from mine and runs down and into the middle of the plain. She swings her arms wide and lets out an exuberant cry of triumph. She twirls and twirls, laughing as though she shares a secret with all of nature. The sky eases its grey shading above her, lighting her as the wind whips through her and around her. She runs back to me.

"What are you doing? Don't just stand there. Join me!"

She grabs my hand again and yanks me from my rooted position, forcing me to delight among the dandelions with her.

"Spin with me!"

We race in circles around each other. Forwards, backwards, together, against, arms linked, fingertips slapping, cringing at the pain, but happy to touch. We collapse onto the ground. Our breathing is synchronized and heavy. I'm panting and feel something inside me stir again. I feel light inside, like I'm floating, like I've never been this carefree before, like nothing else came before this moment and nothing will come after. Nothing else exists. Nothing else matters.

Lydia rolls towards me, curling her leg over mine, and wraps her arm around me. She has a white dandelion in her hand. She holds it to my lips.

"Make a wish."

I close my eyes and blow. Soft warmth gently presses against my mouth. _She's kissing me. Oh god, don't let me die. Please, instead let me live forever in her arms, in her kiss._ Her lips are wet and sweet. I can't breathe. I don't care. Her nostrils flex against my cheek as she, herself, inhales hard before she parts her lips and slips her tongue into my mouth. Stars, sparkles, energy in its purest electrical form fill my vision. She tastes like watermelon gum and RedBull. I frantically suck her tongue, desperate for the eternal knowledge of how it fills me up. She playfully bites down on mine, and I feel her smile. Our bodies press together tightly and completely. She and I are one.

Lydia slowly lifts her face, letting her beauty come intensely into focus. Her smile swells inside my soul.

"I love you, Kylie."

She kisses me again, tenderly and only for a moment.

"I love you too, Lydia."

She giggles.

"Say it again."

"Lydia. I love you."

She nuzzles her cold nose in my warm neck. The breeze battles crisply against our heat. We burn the world away. She and I, me and her, Kylie and Lydia, held together with love and destiny. She is my forever, and I am hers.

"I have to pee!"

She squirms to run away.

"Nooooo. Don't go. I'll freeze without you!"

She kisses me on the cheek.

"I'll be right back, silly girl. Think about what you want me to do to you when I get back to keep you warm."

She wriggles from my half-hearted grip and skips across the grass into the trees, humming that same tune I can't place. I wonder if that's her song for me? I wonder if she would do anything I asked of her? How do I feel so good and perfect? I squeeze my eyes shut. _Everything's finally going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay. Everything _is_ okay._

A small sound chirps by my ear. I open my eyes again and turn my head to the side. A tiny black beetle the size of a quarter chirps again. A wave of slow disconnect and apprehension fogs my joy.

"No. It can't be?"

The death watcher chirps again, and my eyes widen with total recognition. Another chirp completely shatters my disbelief as my world tornadoes around me, then falls out from beneath me. The sky is bleak once more. The forest is impeding again. All light drains from every cell and fiber of my being. I jump to my feet and run.

"LYDIA!"


	4. Darken and Deny

I lose time when Lydia dies. I feel guilty to say it, but I'm more alone without her now than when mom left us. My body is numb and heavy. There is an ache of grey where my heart used to be. A lump lives forever in my throat. At first I drink hot tea with lemon to clear out the ragged torment of my vocal chords. The unspoken words of my broken soul catch and clump. They act as an astringent for the tears I cannot shed. The dryness leads directly to my empty stomach. No food will hold. My belly is an endless pit of pain cyclically folding into itself. My eyes previously only saw her. Now my tunnel vision has diminished into consistent migraines. Eventually I find my aunt's moonshine recipe, and replace the lemon in my tea to dull the pulsing of memories and nightmares.

_Dry leaves crunch beneath my racing feet._

"_Lydia!"_

_ Where is she? She couldn't have gone far._

"_Lydia!"_

_ Row after row of pressing trees. An unseen root trips me. _Shit!_ I jump back up. Head whipping from left to right. Left to right. Frantically from left to right._

"_Lydia!"_

_ Where the fuck _is_ she? Looming sky, leaving no light shed. Running, running, running. The rubber sole of my shoe hits a patch of muddy leaves and I slip. Instinct allows me to reach out and barely grab hold of scratching, unforgiving branches. I am saved. I quickly scoot back from the precipice of an old miner's pulley shaft. My heart races. I repeatedly thank god I didn't fall in. Thank god I didn't fall. Thank god._

"_Lydia!"_

The nightmare is the same every time. And every time I wake up crying. I remember how I climbed down as far as I could until I couldn't hold on anymore. She was still ten feet deeper in the hole. I remember telling her it was going to be okay. I was going to go get help and come back, and it was going to be okay, I just needed her to hang on. _Hang on okay?_ I didn't know if she could hear me. I didn't know if she was still alive. I died when I left her, but I had to.

I returned with multiple squad cars, the fire department, and an ambulance. A rescue worker was lowered within twenty minutes of his arrival. Another thirty minutes and they both slowly rose from the cavern. An officer restrained me as I lunged forward at the first sight of her body.

"Please! Is she okay? Tell me! Is she okay?"

There was a small gesture from the rescue worker to the policeman.

"Let's come over here sweetheart, and give the E.M.T.s a chance to look at your friend."

I pleaded with him. "Just tell me, is she going to be okay?"

The sadness and sincerity in his eyes told me everything. "Did you get a chance to call your parents yet?"

"No. Everyone's dead."


End file.
